My name is Freddy and I'm from Brasil. I want so much to do some friends japanese to exchange knowledge, culture, informations, etc. My english level is basic. If someone here want be my friend please is just invite me. Bye.

I have been there a year ago. I went to Nagoya, Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Miyajima. It was amazing trip for me.

I saw lots of temples, gardens, parks. I also went to museums. All places were amazing. Especially Tokyo Ghibli Museum and Kyoto Tezuka's museum. It's important to saw these museums because I love their animations and manga s.

Actually I'm trying to come again. So that I'm trying to learn japanese, and seaching japanese culture.

yes u get back memories...sometimes u notice a little change that u couldn't realize...but in truth nothin' has changed....it's just u'r movin' on and lettin' ur past go
a diary is like time machine...u can look through it and see what u forget...or what u tried to forget
...anyway it's very good idea to make a diary !!...maybe I'll try it once

When Hapa Izakaya opened in 2003 at Robson Street, it was one of the first establishments to introduce original Japanese dishes in an izakaya atmosphere to Vancouver. Today, their Robson location is three times as large as it used to be in 2003, and branch restaurants are also found in Vancouver's trendy Kitsilano and Yaletown districts.

Shrimp and Avocado Salad

Hapa Izakaya stands out with its minimalist exterior (like a Gion teahouse, barely recognizable as a restaurant) and stylish interior, as well as its original dishes, whose style have inspired a lot of newer izakaya style restaurants in Vancouver over the years.

Tsukune Skewers

Hapa Izakaya fascinated me back in 2003 with never before experienced dishes such as saba (mackerel) seared at the table. Maybe our choices today were not the luckies, but we felt that the originality of Hapa's dishes has dwindled a little bit since 2003 (or other restaurants have caught up to it and raised our expectations). Nevertheless, we enjoyed our dinner there a lot.

Bintoro Tataki

We started off with Bintoro Tataki, a beautifully simple dish of seared tuna sashimi on an excellent vinaigrette sauce. Many of the other dishes were good but not outstanding, including the Shrimp and Avocado Salad and the Monsa Roll. Another highlight of the night was Kakuni, slow simmered pork, which was served in an original way with nikuman style steamed buns.

For a long time, Japanese cuisine in Vancouver was virtually limited to sushi and a few other standard dishes such as tempura. While sushi restaurants are still by far most numerous today, various other restaurant types have tried to introduce their dishes to Vancouver over recent years. Some have struggled, such as okonomiyaki, curry and Japanese pasta restaurants, but others have enjoyed great success, such as izakaya and ramen restaurants.

Daikon Salad

Today we visited Zakkushi, the pioneering restaurant to introduce Vancouver to kushiyaki, skewered foods grilled over charcoal. Zakkushi opened in summer 2004 at 823 Denman Street and has opened two more locations since then in Kitsilano and at Main Street.

Aspara Maki (Asparagus wrapped with pork)

I failed twice to dine at Zakkushi before, because the restaurant's popularity makes it difficult to get in without reservations. But today we finally enjoyed our first dining experience there. As soon as the charcoal smell of my first yakitori skewer entered my nose, I understood the restaurant's unbroken popularity: Zakkushi can easily compete with good kushiyaki restaurants in Japan. Their yakitori are excellent!

Tsukune (chicken meat balls)

Zakkushi features mostly conventional dishes, centered around the typical range of yakitori (grilled chicken on skewers), including tsukune (meat ball), momo (thigh), liver, heart and gizzard. The menu is complemented with a variety of appetizers and tapas style dishes and a sophisticated selection of alcoholic drinks. It is one of Vancouver's few Japanese restaurants that does without sushi on its menu.